


Bonnets

by DianaandAlicia



Series: Post Good Out Here [3]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Grief/Mourning, Parental Relationships, Victor and Althea are kinda like Alicia's surrogate parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 23:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14725823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: After seeing something upsetting, Althea and Alicia have a little talk.





	Bonnets

**Author's Note:**

> This is the third installment to the Post Good Out Here series. MeteoraAngel was my beta for this story, thank you so much Sam! This story is set about 3 days after the second story, in case anyone cared about a timeline.

It's been a few days since Alicia bravely took her first steps out of her bedroom and spring was in full swing. The flowers were starting to bloom outside and the days were getting warmer.  

She was sitting in her rocking chair staring at the wall when Victor came in. Alicia was at the point where she could spend 20 minutes or so outside of her room before getting overwhelmed. She still wasn't really talking that much, but she was starting to do better than she was even a few days ago. 

"Hey Alicia, I have something for you." Victor said, pulling a light blue sun bonnet out from behind his back. The whole thing was the same light blue color but it had a pattern of white diamond print all over it. 

"Where'd you get that?" Alicia asked, her curiosity taking over as Victor handed the hat over. She looked it over before putting it on her head, tying the strings under her chin. 

"There are a bunch of old fashioned costumes in the basement. They were in totes and boxes and Al found some scrapbooks. It looks like the people that used to live here were Civil War reenactors." 

"Really? That's goofy." Alicia giggled, kind of wanting to see the costumes for herself. 

"I was wondering if you would like to take a walk with Me and Al? It's a nice day outside and Al thinks you should get some fresh air." 

"Can I wear my hat?" Alicia asked, pointing to the bonnet on her head. 

"I don't see why not, Angel." Victor said, smiling when thinking of what Al's reaction might be to Alicia wearing the bonnet. "I'll be downstairs." He finished off with, because Alicia needed to put her boots on. 

When Alicia made her way downstairs, Althea and Victor were sitting on the porch swing, quietly talking. Al gave Alicia a big grin when she saw the sun bonnet and Victor took Alicia's hand. 

The three decided to just walk straight down the road for ten minutes and then turn around and come back. Victor and Althea were having a conversation but Alicia was zoned out, not paying any attention to it. 

When they got back to the house, Alicia looked up to where her bedroom window was, and looked down the house and into the yard outside her window. There was a familiar patch of blue sticking out of the ground and as she got closer she recognized the flowers as Texas Bluebonnets. The same flower Nick was holding when he died. The same flowers that his body was buried under. Those flowers made her feel sick to her stomach. 

She wrenched her hand out of Victor's grasp and ran ahead of the two, running into the yard. Once she got to the patch of flowers, her breathing started to get heavier and she fell to her knees, grabbing the flowers and ripping every single one in her grasp out by the roots. There were only about twenty flowers in the patch on the grass but pretty soon, they were all gone. 

Victor and Al knew what seeing those flowers did to Alicia and they didn't blame her at all for ripping them up. As long as she didn't tear up the vegetable garden that Morgan and John have planted, she can tear out any type of plants in the yard that she wants. 

Once all the Bluebonnets were destroyed, Alicia sat back and started to cry. Loud wails erupted from the girl, and both Al and Victor felt horrible for bringing her out. Maybe it was too soon.  

Victor went over to Alicia and silently picked her up bridal style, carrying her into the house. Al grabbed the pile of torn up flowers and threw them in the firepit. Once inside, Al saw Luciana preparing lunch. Out the kitchen window she saw Morgan and John in the garden, looking everything over.  

"Is she ok? Victor came in with her and she was crying." Luciana asked as she stirred the venison stew on the stove.  

"When we came back from our walk she saw a patch of Bluebonnets in the yard. She ripped them all up and then started crying." 

Luciana nodded in understanding. Upstairs in Alicia's room, Victor could be heard calmly talking, though he was almost drowned out by Alicia's hysterical crying. "Can you tell John and Morgan that lunch will be ready soon? And then can you tell Victor?"

Al nodded and went outside, telling Morgan and John that lunch was almost ready. She then went upstairs and quietly walked into Alicia's bedroom. Victor was sitting in the rocking chair and Alicia was face down on the floor crying. Her cries weren't as audible anymore but they still filled the bedroom. If Al hadn't known the situation any better, to her Alicia looked like a toddler having a tantrum in the grocery store. 

Al let Victor know that lunch was ready and she sat down on the floor next to Alicia after he left. "Hey Alicia, it's ok. It's ok, Sweetie." The older woman cooed, gently rubbing Alicia's back. The gesture made Alicia's crying stop long enough for the girl to look up at her with her watery green eyes.  

Alicia opened up her mouth to speak, but only incoherent babbling came out. The only understandable words in the sentences were "Nick", "Sad", and "No." Everything else was so slurred together that Al had no idea what Alicia was truly saying. Even though that were the case, Al understood the situation completely. Seeing the flowers made her think of Nick, and it upset her. 

"Oh, Baby Girl, come 'ere." Al said softly, opening her arms, inviting Alicia to hug her. 

Alicia crawled over to Al and let the journalist scoop her up into a big hug. 

"That's a good girl. Such a good girl for me." Al whispered into Alicia's hair, loud enough for only her and Alicia to hear. The two sat on the floor for a few minutes, Al cradling Alicia against her chest so the younger girl could hear her heartbeat and calm down. 

About ten minutes later, Alicia sat up straight and whispered, "I'm sorry." 

"No. Alicia we don't apologize for our feelings in this house. You are allowed to feel however you feel and react to those emotions however you need. If you feel the need to sometimes cry and throw a fit, you're allowed to do that. As long as you aren't hurting yourself or others, you are allowed to process your emotions however you want in this house. There are no judgements here." 

"I'm sorry for crying like a baby." 

"Crying doesn't make you a baby, Alicia. And even if some of your behaviors are like those who are younger, it still doesn't make you a baby. Plus, you're the youngest in the house. If anyone's gonna act like a baby, it rightfully belongs to you." The older woman said, joking with the last part. 

By this time, Alicia's breathing was more even and she wasn't crying anymore. Al was running her fingers up and down Alicia's back to calm her further, and Alicia was practically melting at the loving contact. 

"Do you feel a bit better now Darling?" 

"Yeah." 

"That's good." 

"I still feel bad for crying though." 

"Well sometimes taking a few minutes to cry can actually help make you feel better. It allows you to get the emotions out that you've bottled up. Crying isn't shameful, Alicia. You cry as much as you want." 

"You won't get mad?"  

"Alicia, I'm never going to get mad at you if you feel sad about losing your brother. No one in this house will ever get mad at you for that." 

Alicia was about to respond when they heard footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hall. 

Luciana appeared, holding two bowls. 

"I brought lunch in case you were hungry." She explained as she set the bowls on the floor by the two women. They nodded their thanks and Luciana left to go back downstairs. 

"Al?" 

"Yes Honey?" 

"When we're done eating, could you maybe possibly take me downstairs and show me the costumes?" 

"Of course. Alicia, I think you're going to get a kick out of what's down there. The boxes we opened had Civil War stuff in it but there were a couple boxes that had other vintage eras in it. We might even find something to fit you without squeezing you into a tight corset." 

Alicia's mouth formed an O shape and she excitedly got off Al's lap to pick up her bowl and start eating. She wanted to see the costumes. 

Al smiled at Alicia's eagerness and started to eat her lunch too. Once both girls were done, they went down into the basement and looked at the clothes for the rest of the day. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who read this, I hope you liked it! Next update will probably be in two days or so. Also I know that in the show, Nick wasn't buried under a field of flowers. I wrote this story and two others in the week between the two episodes so by the time this was finished I had no idea what they were planning on doing with the burial scene.


End file.
